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[Philip Roberts]

There is very likely a gross perception difference between the various people and groups involved as to what constitutes concert lighting. One group may be thinking of simply improving the white lighting to remove distracting shadows on the stage and brighten the scene, possibly with the ability to highlight specific stage areas depending on presentation -- like a symphony concert -- especially if video recording or broadcast is part of what you do. (This may be you and your senior pastor.) The other group may be imagining lasers, moving spots, color washes, pyrotechnics -- like a rock concert. (This may be what your assistant pastor is dreaming of and your elders are afraid of.)

I would suggest preparing a presentation of what you and the senior pastor are imagining, explaining your goals, what is needed to achieve those goals, and what it will cost. Then meet with the entire church leadership team (elders and pastors), and carefully explain what you want to do.

I'd suggest something as simple as getting a bunch of pictures of various churches lighting systems in use ranging from just controlling white light levels to full on lasers, movers, etc and ask the various people involved to select which ones they think are where your church should plan to go and which ones should be avoided. This will at least give you some common visual points of reference so you can make sure there's no miss understanding about the direction to move in.

Philip

[Michael Elphinstone]

Personally, it's preaching the gospel that should attract people to your church. Music, sound and lights are tools to help with that, but should never be the focus.

+1

The big question is why? Why do you want lights? What is your idea of lights? What is your church leadership's idea of lights? In our church, we use "real lighting" for special occasions & events. Real lighting for us consists of more colours and movers. Outside of that, we can have static lights on a fixed colour for some ambiance to frame the stage, with your typical fresnels & profiles for stage wash. We still run our house lights quite bright. But that's the vibe of our church, and our church leadership.

Our audio side of things is another story, we take that very seriously A nice little VRX system with an iLive out front and IEMs nearly everywhere. But again, that's the vibe of our church. We're a musical church, not a "sound & light show" church. That's not us - Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Across all our teams, we're basically on the same page when it comes to these things. You've got to go with what God has called your church to be. Maybe the question should be "What has God called your church to be?"

Cheers,
Michael

[Mark Cadwallader]

I respectfully suggest that moving heads have a place in a HOW. The ability to move the focus points can be quite effective with only a handfull of instruments. But the movement is always while the instrument is dark, and acts like static lighting. That lets you have theatrical lighting (changes in color/mood and intensity, as well as highlighting specific areas of the worship area.  A couple of spots and some washes can replace a boatload of fixed instruments, and still present a traditional look.  That's my $.02, FWIW.

[Jeff Carter]

The whole moving beam/strobe/laser thing requires both haze and low ambient lighting levels in the room, which may not be technically or politically feasible. Also, anything that intensive on the programming side is going to require a fair bit of operator time that may not be easy to come by in a 400-person church.

I'd say the sweet spot for your typical "adult contemporary" worship music would be some static colour wash, maybe fading the intensity and shifting colour a bit as the mood of the music shifts around. That's about what we're at in my own church, which ranges from young families right through to seniors with no particularly dominant age bracket.

Having just added some moving head LED washes this summer, I will agree with Mark that the flexibility of them is awesome, especially the ones with adjustable zoom. Well worth having a few of them in the rig even if they're never moving while lit.

[John Daniluk (JD)]

I would sit down with the proper committee of the Church.  Show them what you want to do, seek their advice.  Sketches and pictures will help.  In some Churches there is NO difference from a bar to a Church system in sound or lighting.   It is a SHOW!!!  The MESSAGE is added as an afterthought. By seeking input from members you will able to achieve some unique and HONOR what you believe.

Sometimes we fail to ask in a production/service WHERE IS GOD IN THIS.

sorry about the rant

JD

[Mark Cadwallader]

You might also consider the following arguments in favor of moving head LED fixtures with remote zoom and focus:

1. Less power draw for LEDs means lower energy use. (Saves money and resources).
2. Less heat produced by LEDs means lower cooling needs, and lower energy use. (If your church needs/uses air conditioning.)
3. Multi color moving head fixtures means fewer things (lights) attached to the building, which typically means a less obtrusive look. They also eliminate the need to climb ladders, etc, to adjust lighting attributes.

Cons include possible cooling fan noise, and stepper motor noise if the heads move during quiet parts of the service(s).

Note that some moving heads are available in white, at no extra cost.

[Fred Dorado]

 a quick thought on lights in worship - you should think of it like an instrument.

You don't just say "we want guitars in worship" and then hand one to Joe congregation member to play. he might have the ability and might not, might need practice and start slow.

I have the same opinion of lights, just having them doesn't make it better, you need someone who can use it in a way that ENHANCES worship. Otherwise they just become a distraction.

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